Homily
for September 3, 2017
The title of today’s homily sounds rather shocking but that is probably
how Jesus’ reproach to Peter must have sounded to the ears of the disciples in
today’s Gospel passage. Just last Sunday, we read of how the same Peter was
appointed as the first Pope only for things to turn around for him so quickly.
Can Christians become satanic? Is it possible for satan to possess a
child of God or even a Pope at that? Can a Church become satanic? Or can a
message proclaimed from the pulpit be satanic? The simple answer to these
questions is: Yes! Oh Yes. But what has light got to do with darkness? You may
wonder.
A Christian or even the most holy person on earth can become satanic
when his or her thoughts are no longer aligned with the thoughts of God. “Get
behind me, satan. You are a hindrance to me for you are not on the side of God
but of men.” We become satanic when we preach a purely human message that fails
to take cognizance of the cross or of suffering and responsibility.
Peter was called satan because he tried to persuade Jesus against the
path of suffering, yet that is exactly what the Gospel of prosperity seeks to
do; to tell people how they can attain glory without sacrifice, without pain
and without having to carry any cross.
No wonder, today we have very lazy Christians who will not work or sweat
but believe that by attending crusades and all nights and by sowing fat seeds,
God will send down miracle jobs, miracle wealth and miracle everything from
heaven. We have students who will not attend lectures or even read their books
but are expecting all A’s in their exams because of some magic pen blessed by
the man of God for them.
And when the expected miracle does not happen, the blame is cast on witches
and wizards; that is, members of one’s own family such as our aged parents or
those we are not in talking terms with as if to say witches and wizards are now
more powerful than God. Today Christians fear satan more than they fear God. That
is why we can commit sin freely and confidently in total disregard for God.
This Gospel of prosperity has really divided many families and set
people on the impossible mission of killing, shooting and shouting for nothing
over imaginary witches and wizards. Am I saying witches and wizards don’t exist?
No! But who are the real witches and wizards? When I fail to control my sexual
appetite and a girl gets pregnant out of wedlock only for me to abort the
child, thereby killing an innocent baby, is that not witchcraft? What is the
difference killing an innocent baby and drinking its blood in the coven? What is
the difference between preventing a person from living right from the womb and
tying down a person’s destiny?
When I steal public funds because I am in a position of power, is that
not witchcraft? Am I not a wizard when truth cannot proceed from my lips
anymore in the name of business? When for instance, I sell fake tires (or fake
spare parts), only for my customers to buy and get accident on the road, am I not
the complete witch? We go to church to shout “die, die, die” when we ourselves
are the cause of our own predicaments. Every day, “die, die die”, is it the
case that they resurrect each morning?
The Gospel of prosperity or better put, the Gospel of satan; the
feel-good Gospel, the Gospel of abundance; positions, power and limitless
pleasure at the expense of Sacrifice has only succeeded in making our country
the most corrupt in the world. Immorality is at its height among Christians in
our society today because we have exchanged truth, conversion and holiness for
the satanic Gospel.
For instance, St. Paul’s message in our second reading today is not one
you hear often; it is not a crowd moving message and definitely not a message
you hear proclaimed on the many “Come-and-Grab-Your-Miracle-Crusades.” St. Paul
tells us, “I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind.”
Today, prosperity preachers (satanic preachers) twist this massage
proclaiming that it is not what you wear on your body or what you do with your
body that matters but the size of your offertory, the size of your tithes and
seeds as if to say the worship of God is now based on your pocket. Jesus today
gives us the criteria for following him:
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. … For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole
world and forfeits his life.” Instead of self-denial, we preach
self-indulgence, instead of telling people to make sacrifices, we teach them
how to live in abundance; how to gain the whole world as part of the dividends
of being Christians.
You see, prosperity preaching turns the message upside down, it is satan’s
way of infiltrating our churches and turning our minds away from God to the
worship of money, self, lust and worldliness. We sing: “me I no go suffer, I no
go beg for bread, god of miracle, na my papa eh, god of miracle, na my papa eh.”
This song is a pure lie! If you ever hear anybody sing it again, say to the
person: “Get behind me satan!”
If it is really God we worship, then, we must be prepared to embrace
suffering and sacrifice, we must be prepared to carry our cross, like Jeremiah
who laments in our first reading today, there would be moments of lamentation,
moments of persecution. The Christian life is not bread and butter. It is hard
work. It is self-discipline. It is being able to offer our bodies as living
sacrifices, it is living in the Spirit rather than in the flesh, it is refusal
to conform to the world’s standards. It is living a holy life. It is letting go
of the pleasures and riches of this world in other to attain true riches in
heaven.
Let us
pray: Lord Jesus, may the truth of your word guide my life. Amen.
Happy
Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God
bless you. (22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A. Bible Study:
Jeremiah 20:7-9, Romans 12:1-2 and Matthew 16:21-27).
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